Seeing Music In Colour – ØZWALD’s beautiful “Sweet Delirium”

If you’re a fan of Jason Wade’s work over the last twenty years as the front man for Lifehouse or his recent solo material and you are wanting to check out his new project ØZWALD…let’s get one thing clear- there is no “Everything,” “Broken,” “Flight”, or “Take Me Away” on this album. Also, if songs like “My Precious,” “Chapter One,” “Everybody Is Someone,” or some experimental deep cut b-sides aren’t your favorite Lifehouse tracks…maybe “Sweet Delirium” isn’t your cup of tea.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about the history of ØZWALD. When Steve Stout become a touring musician for Lifehouse, it was clear early on that he and Jason gelled really well. Ben Carey was a fine guitar player but he honestly seemed a bit too showy compared to the rest of a pretty tame Lifehouse lineup. Steve came in and walked the walk with his guitar playing and was perfectly content to just let the music take center stage. I’ve been a fan of Lifehouse since early 2001 and have been through several touring guitarists over the years. While no one will ever top Sean Woolstenhulme for me personally (It’s a Stanley Climbfall era, Bends/OK Computer tone, and the vinyl scratching intro to Quasimodo thing), Steve is right there closely behind Sean. If Sean is a 100, Steve is a 99.99999. He’s been a great addition to the band and clearly he and Jason are clicking musically.

In an odd way, this partnership reminds me of the years leading up to the “Young Modern” album from Silverchair. Paul Mac joined Silverchair as a touring musician and he opened something up musically in Daniel Johns. The two put out a pretty fantastic self-titled album known as The Dissociatives. It was a much different sound than where Silverchair was at the moment and really paved the way for the “Young Modern” album. While I’m sure that some of Steve’s influence will come through in the eventual new Lifehouse album, I don’t expect it to be of the proportions that Paul Mac had on Silverchair. The “Sweet Delirium” album by ØZWALD brings to mind obvious influences like The Beatles and Elliott Smith. Lead single, and album opener, “Technicolour Sky” is the perfect introduction to the band’s sound and to the album as a whole. If there’s one trend that occurs through the album lyrically, it’s how visual the lyrics are. “Technicolour Sky” is the perfect example of that. When I listen to that song, it feels like I just traveled from the black and white world of Kansas and landed in full color of Oz.

Songs like “Dream Child” and “As The Crow Flies” are amazing singles for this album. The whistle hook in “Dream Child” is something that you’ll be attempting to mimic almost immediately. It’s an infectious melody. The harmonies on a song like “As The Crow Flies” are perfect. On various listens I’ve told myself, “I hear Jay more on this one” but then on another listen hear more of Steve. It’s a beautiful song. Heartbreaking for certain, but beautiful.

There are some songs on here that I’d like to see pushed a bit more. “Vacancy” feels like an „Out Of The Wasteland“ b-side. Maybe even Paper Cuts. The song structure and lyrics are quite good, but I would have loved to have heard it pushed more sonically. The same statements could be made for “Au Revoir.” I really bounce back and forth on “Au Revoir.” The harmonies on the chorus are out of this world. If I had to pick a song on this album that will be the slow builder amongst fans- it would be “Au Revoir.” The line “Was nothing real? It was to me” is sneaky in this song. If I had to pick one line to represent this album…that might be it. The whole album is heartbreaking. Some press leading up to the album mentioned individual heartbreak led to the sessions for these songs, and the mentioned lyric really sums it up perfectly. Speaking of songs that could have been placed on [Lifehouse’s] Out Of The Wasteland, it’s hard to hear “A Hard Rain Comin’” without thinking of it placed somewhere near “Yesterday’s Son” and “Hurt This Way.” Hell, how perfect would this song have been on the underrated Almería album? I don’t feel like I’m stepping out on a limb and saying this was a song Jason brought to the sessions. Another deep cut that’s really impressed me is “Time.” This is the type of song we haven’t heard from Jason before. The rhythm of this song and back ground vocal melodies really drive this song. Sometimes less is more lyrically in a chorus, and “Time” is the perfect example of that.

It would be unfair to write a review of this album and not mention album closer, “Always Be In Mind.” This reminds me of some of the acoustic outtakes from the Lifehouse album. The era where the Elliott Smith influence really came out in Jason’s writing. “I’ll say goodnight but this is not the end. See you when I close my eyes and feel you in every breath until next time, you’ll always be in mind.” It’s hard not to go back to a song like “Midnight in Philadelphia” on this song. This song is the emotional gut wrenching song that fans have come to love over the last twenty years. If you go to bed at night missing someone every single night, this song will resonate with you. As a parent who doesn’t see his child every single day, this song resonates me on the level of “Central Park” as to how it feels to miss someone with your whole heart. “Until our stars align, everything will be alright. Until next time, you’ll always be in mind.”

Wrapping up, this feels like an album that Jason Wade has been trying to reach for almost 15 years or more now. In Steve Stout he found the perfect voice to do an album like this with. I assume many Lifehouse fans won’t connect to this album like they do with the full band efforts. Understandable? Yeah. I get that. They’re really missing out on this album though if that is the case. I would safely say that ¾ of this album is hard to distinguish where Jason ends and Steve begins. I would also safely say that I believe that this was intentional. There’s a strong feeling of loss in their vocals on this album. The production, instrumentation, and lyrics are as visual as anything in recent years in all of music. Lay in the dark, put on your best headphones, and actually experience this album uninterrupted. You’re in for a treat.

Sweet Delirium by ØZWALD is available on iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify, on CD and vinyl.

Review by a2m guest author Brian Zilm